The present invention relates to a system for simulating shooting sports and particularly to a system for simulating shooting sports such as trap, sporting clays, and skeet shooting.
Shotgun competition came to the United States from England, where it began in the 18th century. The targets were live birds, released from small boxes or traps. "Trap shooting" became very popular and during the last half of the 19th century, challenge matches frequently attracted tens of thousands of spectators. But a dwindling supply of live birds, and growing public sentiment against using them for targets, spurred a search for other targets.
One such inanimate shotgun target system came from London in the mid-1800s and included 21/4-inch glass balls and a launching device or "trap" to launch them. Because the balls were thrown only a few feet straight up from the launching device there was no challenge for Americans weaned on wild game birds. The result was a rash of new patents to improve both glass balls and launching devices. Balls were colored for better visibility, roughened to minimize the glancing off of pellets, and feather-filled to appeal to live-bird shooters. Better launching devices were developed as well. Eventually the now common "dome-saucer" target, "bird," "clay pigeon," or "clay" was developed. Despite the fact that many different inanimate target designs were developed before and after the dome-saucer, none were as practical. Improvements have been made since then, but the basic target remains much the same.
Currently, about 750 million clay targets are launched in America each year. The most dominant consumers are trap shooters, but new shooting sports, especially sporting clays and five-stand, have had significant impact on clay bird consumption.
These "clay" targets have several significant disadvantages. First, they are made from materials such as calcium carbonate--limestone, pitch, and latex paint that are generally not biodegradable or otherwise environmentally friendly. In fact, the waste from one year's worth of shattered clays would extend for more than 39,000 miles--more than 11/2 times around the earth at the equator. Biodegradable targets made from environmentally friendly materials such as bird seed and sugar, such as the target disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,581, have been largely unsuccessful because they do not withstand the force of being thrown from the launching device. Another reason biodegradable targets have been unsuccessful is that they tend to crumble when they impact projectile ammunition which does not provide the definite visual and audible indication of impact provided by the shattering of traditional clay targets.
Another problem with clay targets is that they are best used during the day. Using lights to illuminate existing outdoor shooting ranges could be distracting if illuminated unevenly. Making the targets reflective, such as the target suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,554 to Gilbertson, would not be practical because of the relative lack of light at night to reflect off the targets. Adding lights to clay targets would not be practical because it could complicate the process of manufacturing the clays, could change the dimensions of the clays, and could be prohibitively expensive since the clays are destroyed after one use. Using clay targets indoors is also problematic and generally requires extensive modifications and safety equipment.
Other problems with shooting sports are associated with the dangers caused by projectile ammunition or "shot." Projectile ammunition that is capable of breaking a target can also pierce human skin. Accordingly, many non-projectile systems have been developed. Most of these non-projectile systems involve using special firearms having integral light or laser mechanisms. Since most shooters prefer to use their own firearms so they can practice under consistent conditions, some non-projectile systems have been mounted above or below the barrel of a standard shotgun. This mounted system, however, does not simulate actual shooting conditions because it throws off the shooter's aim when the beam of light does not emanate from the barrel.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,471,945 and 3,502,333 to G. K. Fleury disclose a light-emitting shotgun cartridge or shell and an electronic trap and skeet target that solve many of the problems of previously known non-projectile systems. Particularly advantageous is the ability to use a light-emitting shell in place of a normal projectile bearing cartridge or shell without additional adapters or firearm modifications. Another advantage of the Fleury shell is that it incorporates a delay time to simulate the delay between projectile ammunition leaving the gun and hitting the target. Because of its primitive design, however, the Fleury shell has several significant disadvantages. For example, a flash lamp embodiment is only designed for a single use and a conventional bulb embodiment is only designed for use at a relatively short range. Another problem is that the light emitted from the shell is not modulated and therefore is indistinguishable from any other incandescent or fluorescent light source of similar or greater brightness. Yet another problem is that the light pattern is determined only by the barrel's inside diameter and cannot be shaped to match a projectile shot pattern. Finally, the demands placed on the battery by the Fleury shell drains available battery energy quickly.
The Fleury shell, discussed above, is meant to be used with the Fleury target. The Fleury target is a self-contained, reusable, light detecting target adapted to simulate the trap or skeet clay target. The Fleury target has a single photosensitive device to detect incident light and an alarm system to provide a visual indication of a target hit.
One problem with the Fleury target is battery life. To solve this problem Fleury provided two externally mounted switches. The power switch is turned "on" to provide power to the alarm and the photosensitive device. The alarm reset switch toggles the alarm system between manual and automatic reset. These switches, however, create additional problems. By being externally mounted, it is likely that the switches will be damaged upon launching or landing. Because the power switch must be manually turned off, power will drain from the batteries if the target is not manually turned off. If the alarm reset switch is set for manual reset, the alarm, which requires a relatively significant amount of power, will drain the battery until it is manually reset. However, because it is often difficult to verify a hit if the automatic reset option is used, the manual reset option is generally preferable to the automatic reset.
Another problem with the Fleury target is that it is difficult to determine if the target is "alive" or if it has been hit. This is because the Fleury target is dark both when it is completely off and also when it is ready to detect a light signal. It is difficult to determine whether the target has been hit because the lights, when used during daytime conditions, are poor visual indicators of a hit.
Yet another problem is that the Fleury target's photosensitive device is unable to distinguish between various bursts of light. Although ambient light might not trigger the photosensitive device, there are natural bursts of light in normal daylight that would trigger the photosensitive device. Also, other light sources, such as flashlights and flash bulbs, could easily trigger the photosensitive device.
Other patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,437 to Scott et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,516 to Jacob, U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,262 to Dye et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,174,813 to J. L. Younghusband, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,617 to Hancox et al., disclose light and laser devices used to simulate shooting. These devices include various combinations of apparatus either mounted within the ammunition chamber, mounted within the barrel, mounted axially to the barrel, or a combination thereof. None of these devices, however, include a system that accurately simulates live ammunition shooting.
While some regard shooting sports as dangerous, environmentally unsound and hazardous to a shooter's health, shooting sports do serve a purpose. Shooting sports provide recreation for millions of recreational shooters who might otherwise shoot live prey. Shooting sports also provide a valuable means for police, military, and civilian gun owners to become familiar and proficient with their weapons. Shooting sports have also become a popular spectator sport as is evidenced by its popularity during the 1996 Olympic games.
What is needed, then, is a system for simulating shooting sports that provides a non-polluting, non-lethal, inherently safe, reusable, highly reliable, indoor/outdoor form of shotgun shooting simulation. Further, a system is needed that provides as much realism to shooting sports as possible. The system should be inherently friendly to first time users such as women and youth. The system should also simulate shooting sports as nearly as possible so as to provide educational opportunities therefor. Finally, the system should require minimal or no maintenance, set-up, or breakdown.